IT IS high time those responsible for running Bristol Rovers Football Club take responsibility for what is happening on the field. By that, I don't mean manager Mark McGhee, who is left to face the press after poor results and performances on a weekly basis.

I believe the situation has now become so serious, it requires the board of directors and senior employees to come out and issue some kind of mission statement.

It is not just that Rovers are one place off the bottom of the Football League and in real danger of being relegated; just as worrying is the sense of drift and the apparent lack of direction that has left the supporters in torment.

They want to know what is going on and I think they have reached a point where the chairman, Nick Higgs, pictured below, needs to publicly outline his vision and reveal his long-term plan – if he has one.

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What is the short-term plan in January and will Mark McGhee be able to spend money in the transfer market? Is he still the right man for the job, or will they look to appoint another manager before the transfer window opens and let him have a go?

What is the plan beyond January and for the rest of the season? And where do the board see the club going and what are their main objectives over the next two years?

If the board come out and say we need another six players to get us out of trouble, the fans will more than likely agree with that. If they say we don't need to strengthen and can get out of trouble with what we've got, most will disagree, but at least the fans will know where they stand.

At the moment, they are not sure what they are getting behind. If there is a clear vision put before them, they can either buy into it or not.

There was a point last Saturday, until Barnet conceded a late goal, when Rovers were actually bottom of the Football League. It does not get any worse and something needs to be done urgently.

This situation is far worse than the one presided over by Paul Buckle last season. I felt Rovers fans always believed they had the players to get out of trouble, even if they did not rate the manager.

But now I see a situation where the fans have no faith in either the manager or the team and that is a bad place to be.

When people turn up for a home game and are already angry before a ball has been kicked, things become really difficult for the players. When the crowd are on your backs from the start, it does not give the players a chance.

Mark came out after the 1-0 defeat to Dagenham & Redbridge and told reporters he was pleased with certain aspects of his team's performance. But for me, results are now far more important than performances and I'm sure Rovers fans will take a scrappy win at York tomorrow.

I'm sure the fans realise the gravity of the situation. They now need to come together, get behind the team and try to help Mark and his players get some points on the board at York.

Things are looking a little brighter on the other side of Bristol and I feel City's 3-2 win at Sheffield Wednesday could turn out to be a massive turning point for the club.

A lot of attention has been focussed on the tactics and selection policy of Robins boss Derek McInnes in recent weeks and I believe he was absolutely right to revert to 4-4-2 and attack a Sheffield Wednesday side that has a poor defensive record.

With two strikers in the starting line-up, City got themselves into areas where they could put the opposition under pressure and it was that pressure that led to the two penalties and the free-kick award that enabled Albert Adomah to win the game at the death.

I understand why Derek went back to playing just one up front when the team was struggling and in urgent need of stopping the goals against going in, but sometimes your best chance of keeping a clean sheet is to go with two banks of four and deploy a couple of strikers to frighten the opposition.

I've seen City play a midfield five and, when they let a goal in, players looking at one another and pointing the finger of blame because they are not sure who should be taking responsibility in certain situations.

Playing one up front tends to invite the opposition to come at you and we saw Wolves push the full-backs on and dominate the game territorially at Ashton Gate the other week.

If you are going to play with one up front, you need a striker who absolutely loves that kind of role and midfield players with the legs to get up there and support him. Didier Drogba was one of the first to do it in the Premier League, since when other managers have tried to follow suit.

But you need the right kind of players and you don't see Manchester United or Manchester City doing it. They have some great strikers, but always go with two up front.

Looking at Bristol City's squad, I feel they are at their best when they have two forwards in the starting line-up. They have tried blocking up midfield to keep things tight and still not managed to keep a clean sheet, so maybe they should set out to score more goals than the opposition.

For me, two up front with a wide player and one attacking central midfielder and one holding midfielder is the best way to go for the Robins.

City's problems at home have been well documented and I would like to see them go with a 4-4-2 system and get on the front foot right from the start against Derby tomorrow.

The fans also have a part to play, because opposition sides come to Ashton Gate knowing that they only have to keep things tight for 15 to 20 minutes and the home fans will become restless.

Visiting teams have come to rely upon it and it would be good to see Ashton Gate regulars still making a noise after that initial period, even if their team is not in front. There is nothing worse than playing at home in a quiet stadium and City need to improve their record in BS3 if they are to move up the table.

Comments

Oh dear oldbristolian are your feathers ruffled ?
Leroy Rosenior having the audacity to suggest the board of Bristol Rovers don't have a plan. Absolutely preposterous, shame on him, who does he think he is ?
And who do we know who is always blaming footballers for his woes ? You know, the ones who he keeps giving long contracts and fantastic wages but then they don't perform and his team end up second from bottom of the football league. Someone who likes to talk about all the secret goings on behind the scenes and how no one else understands football finances except himself and his cronies.
Message to Mr Higgs, message to Mr Higgs. The market determines how much footballers are paid not the footballers themselves. You are quite free to pay lower wages and give shorter contracts if you like. After all, if you have the power to not allow Rovers to get relegated you must have the power to stop the footballers wages market operating as well.

Leroy Rosenior: It's time for Bristol Rovers to reveal long-term plan - if one exists
I have read Leroy`s comments for some time now, he is respected amongst people in the game however recently and due to a downturn in performances from both our Bristol football teams, Mr R`s comments have become so unprofessionally predicable. Leroy the footballer was a reliable player, a contributor some would say not a match winner, a supporter of footballers and not necessarily understanding the finances behind the scenes.
As with both football teams here in Bristol, performing at different levels and with completely different financial investors, the problems remain the same.
Footballers who believe they are bigger stars than they really are and think they deserve more money before they break a sweat for the cause should think again because times are changing.
When you wake up in the morning every morning privileged to have football in your plans, get paid a salary above the average earnings feel a sense of pride for the people who employ you.
In my opinion so called professional footballers should be made accountable.
Of course Leroy would never knock a fellow professional but the time has come to highlight these so called "Professional footballers" and bring them back down to planet earth with the rest of us humans.
Honesty, Performance, commitment, understanding of the game and professionalism (not in that order) has gone missing from the game recently and especially here in Bristol. I would like to read something from Leroy highlighting individuals who need a kick from a fellow professional without a claim of unfairness against the club!
It`s time for footballers to wake up before their greed destroys the game we all love.

Higgs has picked an up & coming manager in Paul Buckle who Gasheads told me would win the League during his first succesful pre-season-He was sacked because he couldn't acheive.
Then a highly experienced manager in Magee failed this season after doing OK last.
What's next?
At League Two level it's all about management, motivation & knowing the League.It's definetly not about money as Cheltenham, Exeter & Port Vale will tell you.
In terms of City, when the heart and spine of your team is missing in Carey, Stead & Skuse that won't help and when your best player, Cunningham picks up a three month injury, you're in trouble.The odd poor signing loan & perm hasn't helped and McInnes hasn't got it right on a number of occassions.
The Jan window is 100% key and I hope Del's got it all planned because if he gets that wrong or the lead up to Jan 1st, he'll definetly be fired and off we go again.
If changing managers every year made clubs succesful Bristol would rival Manchester as a footballing City.

The club we have in front of us now is a product of a group of individuals who put 90% of their effort into running their own businesses and 10% into the club, the facts back this up for anyone to see the non structure of the club.
This situation has been building since Dennis Dunford departed the board and has gone downhill ever since.
Fans have been crying out for the Chairman to bring someone in to run the club as a professional outfit, he has continually ignored this and he has in front of him what he deserves, this club is going down no doubt about it, the asset stripping started ages ago.
The only hope we have as fans now is that one day the club is sold to people who a) know how to run a 'professional FC' and b) want success on and off the pitch, its clear that the clowns who run the madhouse at the moment couldn't care less, the silence over the past 5 years says it all, Gasheads have been robbed of a club that used to belong to the fans.

pierecardinal I have felt the same pain as the rest of the mem. I base my optimism on performances such as Exeter away, Fleetwood at home., Torquay first half, Sheffield first half. I am struggling to think of other good performances as I agree we have been poor too ofen. However what those performances give us is a view of what is possible with this curent crop. For me Norburn, Clarkson,Kenneth (but not consistently), Parkes, Hammer (again not consistently), Smith could form the backbone of a good side. Eaves, Etheridge were also good for us. Granted we can all think of performances where all these players have looked awful but I don't think many could disagree that they have put in sme good performances. We just missed out on Mahon in the loan window as he wouldn't relocate, however if we can get 3-4 players of that kind of class alongside the previously mentioned players I don't hink we will go down. Also we have been i the relegation places for a really short time and f there are any stats guys reading this it would be interesting to see how many different teams occupy these places during a season. I know little of stats but I do know that anot everybody who finds themselves in these places get relgated. What worries me most is the way we are no longer gasheads till we die instead waving the white fag at any hint of bad form.

Kabatiti "We will not get relegated". Based on what? We are too big to go down? We have too many 'quality' players? We have to be realistic, we are on the verge of being halfway through the season with 18 points. 18 points! If we repeat our form of the first half of the season we will have 36 points. Hereford went down last season on 44 points.... The players need to wake up and start performing or we WILL be playing non league football next season. That is as realistic as it gets.

What a load of one sided nonsense. Like most supporters at the mem I am upset by how things have turned out but I don't think there is a lack of strategy. Al gasheads know the plan which was to start buildng a side capable of climbing the leagues and get a new stadium. We are 3-4 players short of decent side (ball winning midfielder, GK, ST, Winger). Granted Mcghee could have done better in the summer but Buckle left him some well paid rubbish and with a wage cap its hard to get around that. Players will be signed in January we have been told this already. And its looking pretty good on the stadium front. Some of the rubbish written by fellow gasheads and Reds every time we lose a game is unbalanced and unfair. We will not get relegated. Roseinor loses credibility in this artcle when he speaks about the Manchester clubs in the same sentence as city. A lucky win over fellow championship strugglers is hardly time for celebration.

Couldn't agree more, Higgs is as elusive as proverbial rocking horse s@@@ and his plans mysterious as the Mayan prophecies. We are going down faster than the Titanic. Time to man up and show us the supporters, some respect, NOW and not at the end of the present campaign when it is much to late!